


Mistletoe on Hanukkah

by Metal_Chocobo



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: First Kiss, Hanukkah, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-07
Updated: 2015-12-07
Packaged: 2018-05-05 11:07:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5373074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Metal_Chocobo/pseuds/Metal_Chocobo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just in time for Hanukkah Riku learns that Sora is Jewish. So of course he accepts an invite to the Strife family latke party.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mistletoe on Hanukkah

**Author's Note:**

> Some very old fic of mine that I recently revised to post here.

“Take it back, Riku!” Sora shouted, throwing a fry at his best friend.

“But it’s true, Sora, I’m better at everything,” Riku said, shrugging as he caught the fry. He popped the potato wedge in his mouth and chewed it before continuing. “I’m stronger, faster, smarter, better looking—”

“Not to mention modest,” Sora added sarcastically.

“Oh, but of course,” Riku smugly agreed, “more popular, older, more mature. I’ve done everything better and before you.”

Sora glared at him. After a moment he brightened and smirked. “Riku, there is one thing I know for certain I did before you.”

Riku laughed and grabbed another fry. The two boys were seated at Sora’s kitchen counter eating slightly burnt French fries. School had ended an hour ago leaving them two weeks of winter vacation and they planned on using their time to the fullest. Sora looked so excited he decided to take the bait.

“All right Sora, I’ll bite. What did you do before I did?” Riku asked, sipping his orange juice.

“I became a man,” Sora said proudly.

Riku spewed juice out of his mouth and nose all over the counter. Images of Sora doing very adult activities flashed through his mind. After blowing his nose to get the last of the citric flavor out, Riku asked, “You’ve done it, Sora?”

“What?” Sora asked. When he realized what Riku was asking, he blushed a deep shade of red and stuttered out, “N-no way, R-Riku, I’d… I’d never.”

“Good, cause you’re only fifteen,” Riku said warily. 

“Oh, like being a year older really makes you that much more ready and worldly,” Sora laughed. “You’re no more adult than I am.”

Riku smiled wryly as he cleaned up his mess. Sora was wrong; Riku was more of an adult, though it had more to do with his maturity than age. He also probably thought a lot more about sex than Sora ever did. Usually Riku’s fantasies featured the other boy, though he hadn’t figured out why his body was so set on Sora. Don’t get him wrong, Sora was sweet, funny, caring, loyal, always kept his word, and Riku desperately wanted to be more than ‘just friends’ with him, but he wasn’t exactly wet dream material. At least not for normal people, but Riku seemed to be an exception. He tried to avoid these thoughts as best as he could because Sora was presumably straight and Riku did not want to jeopardize their friendship.

“So, what do you mean by saying you’re a man if that’s not it?” Riku teased. He tossed the wet rag at the sink and confidently leaned against the refrigerator, watching as it landed perfectly on the drain. He waited for Sora’s response, wondering what he meant.

“He means he’s had his bar mitzvah,” Cloud said, entering the kitchen. He waved dismissively at Riku. “Now move, I want eggnog.” Riku quickly got out of the way. As Cloud dug around in the fridge, Riku asked what a bar mitzvah was.

“A bar, or bat if you’re a girl, mitzvah is this rite of passage for Jewish kids,” Sora explained cheerfully. “We usually have them a little after our thirteenth birthday.”

“You’re Jewish?” Riku asked. He had no idea.

“Yeah,” Sora said, “Cloud is too.”

“I’m your brother, Sora, of course I’m Jewish,” Cloud said.

“But you guys eat pig,” Riku said, “and you celebrate Christmas!”

“We celebrate Santa-Day,” Sora said, glowering at him. When he used that tone there was no arguing with him. “There is no dead carpenter worship in this house.”

“Dad grew up Christian and wanted to keep the fun stuff, so we’ve always had Santa-Day. It’s certainly made dealing with his side of the family easier, but Mom’s side always rolls their eyes about it,” Cloud explained. He took a swig out of the carton giving Riku a moment to process. 

“You make it sound like a bad thing,” Sora said. “We’ve got the best holiday traditions out of either side.”

“You just like decorating and presents,” Cloud said.

“I love the reindeer too!” Sora added. Cloud rolled his eyes.

“As you can tell, we’re not a strict Orthodox family. Most Jews aren’t,” Cloud said, turning back to Riku. “We don’t keep kosher, so we’ll eat pork, but we do regularly attend synagogue. That isn’t true for all Jews; a person’s expression of Judaism, be it religious or cultural, is somewhere on a spectrum. Just like it is for Christians. Probably true of most other religions too.”

“Oh,” Riku said, feeling stupid. “Why haven’t I ever noticed?”

“We don’t exactly broadcast being Jewish and you are sort of a self-centered kid,” Cloud said, putting the carton back. “I’m off to see Tifa. Oh, and if Link calls—” 

“I’ll tell him that you’re a very sorry and that you love him dearly,” Sora teased. Cloud shot him a glare before walking away. Riku heard him mutter that Link wasn’t his boyfriend as he left.

“What was that about?” Riku asked.

“Ah,” Sora said waving his hand. “Cloud’s having a fight with his roommate. My stoic idiot brother is head over heels in love with him and doesn’t know how to express it. So they’re having issues.”

“Why do you think that?” Riku asked.

“Well, Cloud denies it, but he totally likes Link. He talks about Link all the time in his letters, when he barely mentions anybody else, and he cooks for him too.”

Riku digested this information before concluding, “Your brother having feelings for anyone is creepy.”

“It took a while to get used to it,” Sora agreed. “So… will you come to our latke party? It’s always really fun with lots of tasty food. Probably my favorite part of celebrating Hanukkah.”

“Hanukkah? That’s the one with the candelabras, right?” Riku asked, “Would I have to wear any of those little hat thingies?”

“Yeah, it’s called a menorah, and no you wouldn’t have to wear a yarmulke since the party is here and not at a synagogue.”

“I’d love to come, Sora,” Riku grinned. “When is it?”

“This Saturday, starting at five,” Sora happily informed him. “Be there or be square.” Riku stared at those big beautiful blue eyes and promised that he would. They spent the rest of the afternoon playing video games.

* * *

Riku shifted nervously before he rang the bell. He had never been to a real Jewish party before—that is, one where a Jewish holiday was being celebrated and not simply something like Sora’s birthday. Riku had been to all of those. He had no idea how he was supposed to act at this party; Sora didn’t say anything about expected behaviors. He was going to do or say something awful and make a fool of himself. Probably insult the entire Strife family at the same time.

Sora yanked the door open and excitedly greeted him. “Shalom, Riku!”

“What?” Riku asked.

“It’s Hebrew for ‘hello and welcome,’ which you totally are.” Sora grinned and pulled Riku into the house.

“Thanks,” Riku smiled, relaxing now that he was inside. Somehow Sora’s presence always put him at ease, especially when Riku worked himself up over something stupid. He knew how to conduct himself in polite society. “Do you know any more?”

“Riku, I’m fluent,” Sora said, “well, fluent enough to get by.”

Riku flushed at this gap in his Sora knowledge. As best friend he was supposed to know everything. He grabbed Sora around the waist and started tickling him. Sora laughed and squirmed trying to get away, however, Riku was having too much fun to let him escape.

“Let go, Riku! Get off!” Sora laughed, still struggling.

Suddenly, Riku was picked up and jerked away from Sora. Cloud glared at him as he held Riku by the collar. Sora grabbed Cloud’s arm and insisted they had just been playing. Cloud dropped Riku after giving him another firm shake. 

“In the future when he tells you to stop, you stop,” Cloud growled as a warning.

Sora frowned at Cloud and glowered, but it looked more like a pout to Riku. He stepped between Riku and Cloud, in a protective fashion. Cloud frowned at them and then said something in Hebrew, wagging a finger at his little brother. Riku wondered what the exchange was about because it left Sora blushing as Cloud walked away. He gave Sora a questioning look.

“That was nothing,” Sora said trying to regain his composure. “Come on, Riku, try some gilt.”

Before Riku could expose another gap in his knowledge Sora dragged him into the kitchen and scooped a handful of shiny wrapped disks off the table. He dumped them into Riku’s hand. Riku examined one, which was mocked up to look vaguely like a quarter, and peeled the foil back to reveal chocolate. Sora unwrapped another piece and popped it in his mouth.

“Gilt, it’s traditional and tasty,” Sora grinned. He grabbed a pancake from another plate. “These are latke, basically potato pancakes. They’re really good.”

Riku eyed the latke and then carefully took one. He bit into it, chewed slowly, and swallowed. Definitely not his favorite form of potato, but the flavor could grow on him. Seeing Sora’s worried face Riku wanted to reassure him. “You’re right, it’s great.”

“I’m glad you like them,” Sora beamed. “I made them myself.”

“You’ll make a great dad someday,” Riku said. Sora popped a large piece of smelly fish in his mouth. He started to say something, but broke off suddenly and gagged. Riku waited for Sora to stop joking around, but after a while it seemed like he really was in trouble. “Are you okay?”

Cloud swore then rushed over to his little brother. He wrapped his arms around the younger boy and performed the Heimlich maneuver. Sora coughed several times before upchucking a glob of fish and chunks of candy cane. Cloud set his brother down carefully, gently rubbing his back while Sora gasped for air.

“Don’t talk and eat at the same time anymore, kiddo,” Cloud admonished. His cell phone went off. Cloud ignored it, focused on his little bother. The phone rang again. 

“You should answer that,” Sora croaked.

“I can get that any time,” Cloud said. “Are you alright?”

“Cloud, answer your phone,” Sora said, waving him off. “I’m fine, really, and if I’m not, I have Riku here to help.”

“Strife,” Cloud barked into the phone. After a moment Cloud’s eyes widened. He looked to Sora one more time, but the boy made shooing motions to send him away. As he slunk off to have his phone call in private Riku heard Cloud mention his roommate’s name.

Once they were alone Riku shifted slightly and stared at his friend. He half expected Sora to start choking again. “You’re certain you’re okay?”

“I’m 100% okay,” Sora insisted. He grinned as if to prove his statement true. “Can we please talk about something else?”

“Sure. Let’s hang out in the basement and you can explain this holiday,” Riku said, grabbing another latke.

Nodding in agreement, Sora led Riku down to the basement. Riku sat down at one end of the decrepit blue sofa. He glanced around the room he had spent so much time in while growing up. All the old books and movies were shelved along one wall framing the TV. On the far side of the basement the Strife family’s washing machine and dryer leaned drunkenly against each other. If both were running at once they had to have the TV’s volume up at maximum to keep their shows from being drowned out by the racket they made.

Riku thought fondly of the time he and Sora had filled the washing machine with vinegar and baking soda. The entire basement flooded with the fizzing liquid and both boys were soaked, leaving them pungent smelling in the wake of the eruption. They sat on the basement steps laughing hysterically the whole time Sora’s mom chewed them out for causing the mess before making them clean it up. That was when Riku first realized he loved Sora.

Riku felt something hit his lap. He looked down to see Sora. The brunette had sprawled across the couch, which at the moment meant lying on top of Riku too. He waved a fat book and said, “I found a copy of the Torah, but I’m pretty sure the story of Hanakkah isn’t actually in here. I know we’ve got the right book upstairs if you really want me to read it for you.”

“That’s okay, I wouldn’t understand the Hebrew anyway,” Riku said, not wanting Sora to leave. “Give me the abridged version.”

“Okay. Well, first off, Hanukkah barely registers on the Richter scale of Jewish holidays. Yom Kippur is way more important. Hanukkah just gets all the attention because it happens around the same time as Santa-Day,” Sora explained, shifting slightly. He set the Torah on the coffee table.

“Go on,” Riku said, doing his best to focus on Sora’s words.

“The story of Hanukkah is this,” Sora began, having settled comfortably. “So, there was this temple in Jerusalem that only had enough oil to keep the sacred lamps lit for one day while a war was going. Someone was always trying to off us and I am totally sick of it. Anyway, they sent a dude out to prepare more sacred oil, and miraculously the oil supply, which was only enough for one day, lasted eight days. Ever since then we’ve had Hanukkah, which we celebrate with a lot of oil fried foods and lighting candles on the menorah for eight days.”

“Interesting,” Riku said. There wasn’t much else to say. He glanced down at Sora, who had shut his eyes. The boy looked like he was fast asleep. While examining him Riku realized his fingers were tangled in that bird’s nest Sora called hair and immediately retracted them. He must have started running his fingers through it while Sora talked. When the other boy realized Riku had stopped Sora sat up and glared at him.

“Why’d you stop?” Sora whined. “That felt really good!”

“I thought you wouldn’t want me touching you like that,” Riku said quietly.

“I love it when you touch me!” Sora blurted out. When his brain caught up with his tongue Sora turned cherry red.

There was an awkward silence. Riku looked around trying to find something to put Sora at ease. He looked up and saw a bunch of leaves tied together with red berries. “Mistletoe,” he murmured, “I wasn’t expecting to see that here.”

“Huh?” Sora asked.

“Mistletoe,” Riku repeated pointing up, “We’re sitting under mistletoe.”

“So?” Sora asked, not understanding. “Mom must have put some up when we were decorating the other day.”

“Tradition says we kiss,” Riku said, smirking. “So are we gonna or are you too chicken?” Sora pouted and glowered at the older boy.

“I’m not a chicken,” he said. The younger boy bit his lip and stared at Riku.

Riku’s bravado failed him. This was an important moment and if he screwed up, he could seriously harm his most important friendship. Placing a hand on Sora’s knee, Riku leaned in close to the brunette and looked into his eyes. He saw uncertainty. 

“It’s okay,” he whispered. “It’s just a kiss, but if you really don’t want to we don’t have to.” Sora scowled, but didn’t move away. So Riku kissed him.

The kiss wasn’t exceptional. Riku had very little experience and Sora—to Riku’s knowledge—had none. It was a bit sloppy, short, and they managed to knock their heads together, but Riku thought it was wonderful. He was kissing Sora.

As soon as that thought occurred to Riku he pulled back. Both boys were left breathless, even though the kiss was short. Sora silently touched his lips as he stared at him. Riku started to get up, he knew he had messed up and he wanted to get out before Sora started crying. Before Riku got away Sora grabbed his shirtfront and pulled him back. He twisted his fingers into Riku’s hair and kissed him.

They explored each other’s mouths. Tongues probed new cavities as bits of potato swirled back and forth between their mouths. Slobber got everywhere. They were having a great time. Riku even found out that Sora wore a retainer. 

It only ended when Cloud came halfway down the stairs and said, “Guys, Mom wants you upstairs. We’re about to light the menorah.” Without even looking at them he went back up. The boys quickly separated and got to their feet. Riku carefully dusted off his best friend and straightened his shirt. No one else needed to know what they had done, at least not yet.

“So, Sora,” Riku drawled, “What do you think?”

“I think we need more mistletoe,” Sora answered, flashing him a cheeky grin before running up the stairs. Riku grinned. He was too happy and excited by this turn of events to even try and pretend to be cool. He followed the other boy up the stairs and back to the party. After all, he had a menorah lighting to watch.


End file.
